Cave Diving....Brrrrrrrr!

Trip Start Apr 04, 2011

Trip End Apr 28, 2011

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Where I stayed

Jaguar Paw Belmopan (aka. Jaguar Paw Jungle Resort)
Read my review - 4/5 stars

(Belmopan hotels)

Flag of Belize Belize City, Belize District, Belize
Thursday, April 14, 2011

On the morning of my caving adventure......I got a cold. Yay. I felt absolutely horrible. There was no way I could go today. I had a temperature of 102 degrees. I was really looking forward to this expedition. I think about it some more. I made my decision. Prying myself away from my bedsheets, I got up and rushed to the washroom to freshen up before leaving.

When I exit the building I see my driver Jos� waiting for me in the parking lot. I get in and tell him to drop me off at St. Maria's dock. Here I meet some fellow cavers Cecily and John. We chat for half an hour. Our instructor is late. His assistant walks up to us and tells us to get into the Forgio, anyway. The Forgio is the largest natural cave in all of Belize with large channels of water flowing underneath it. Once we get into the cave, we put on our diving suits and wait for our instructor to get here. While we were waiting, we explore the cave, it was crawling with tiny crab and different types of shellfish. The walls were covered in wet, emerald green moss and the floor and ceilings with ginormous stalagmites and stalactites. The assistant, Ralph, approaches us with a big grin on his face and tells us to come back as we're getting ready to dive.

We make our way to the small opening when all of a sudden,"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" I scream. I wasn't the only one. A monster just jumped out at us from underwater. We all burst out laughing when we realize that it is our intstructer Zack motioning for us to join him. We grab our water-proof cameras and dive. It was pitch black. We turned on our headlamp and follow Zack though a narrow tunnel. He gets to a wide open clearing and my heart almost stops. It was breathtaking. I think I finally realized what natural beauty was once I got in here. There are bright blue coral below us that sparkle like gems and the floor is teemingg with life. Shrimp and Fish of every kind swimming about, not seeming to notice that we were about a metre above them. We take as many pictures as we can as our 2 hrs. are almost up.

When I resurface, I talk to Cecily about how beautiful it was down there. So natural, it was a place of pure bliss for me. On my ride back to the hotel, my thoughts stray towards the Forgio once more. This was surely the best trip I have ever been on......!

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